Container of Smokable Articles Sealed with a Label

ABSTRACT

A container of smokable articles, preferably cigarettes, and a label, preferably a tax label or sticker. The label is made of a transparent, partially printed plastic sheet. The label is used to seal the container, preferably a display carton or a cigarette pack. A method of sealing a container of smokable articles comprises applying a label comprising a partially printed, transparent plastic sheet over at least a portion of a top face of the container.

The invention relates to a container of smokable articles having a labelapplied thereto and in particular to a pack of cigarettes sealed with atax sticker or tax label.

Smokable articles such as cigarettes, cigarillos, or cigars are usuallysold in rigid, semi rigid or soft packs. To indicate that the requiredtax has been paid for the smokable articles, such packs are often sealedwith a tax label. Known tax labels for packs of smokable articles aremade of paper or plastic material on which the required tax informationis printed, both materials being substantially impermeable to light.Usually, the pack of smokable articles including the attached tax labelis over wrapped with a transparent film. During the over wrappingprocess, certain areas of the transparent film are sealed together bythe application of heat in, for example, a shrink tunnel.

For rigid packs of smokable articles, such as hinge-lid packs, the taxlabel usually extends from the front face of the pack over the top faceof the pack to the rear face of the pack, thereby covering a substantialportion of the total surface area of the pack. For soft packs ofsmokable articles, the tax label usually covers a portion of the topface of the pack. In some cases, display cartons containing a number ofhard or soft packs of smokable articles are also sealed with a tax labeland/or have other labels applied to the surface thereof.

Since the surface of a pack of smokable articles is frequently used tocarry important consumer information, and the tax label covers part ofthat surface, it is desirable for the size of the tax label to be keptas small as possible. A certain minimum size of tax label is, however,required in order to seal the pack such that it cannot be opened withoutbreaking the tax label. A need, therefore, exists in the smokablearticle packaging industry to reduce the surface area of a pack ofsmokable articles concealed by a tax label, while at the same timeensuring that the pack cannot be opened without breaking the tax label.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a packof smokable articles that, although sealed with a tax label, has asubstantially increased proportion of its surface visible to theconsumer compared to known sealed packs.

This object is achieved by a container of smokable articles having alabel applied thereto, the label sealing the container such that theconsumer has to break the label to gain access to the contents of thecontainer, characterized in that the label comprises a partiallyprinted, transparent plastic sheet.

The container may be an individual pack comprising a plurality ofsmokable articles, preferably a soft or a hard pack, or a display cartoncomprising a plurality of individual packs comprising a plurality ofsmokable articles. In particular, the container of the present inventionmay be a cigarette pack, or a display carton comprising a plurality ofcigarette packs.

Smokable articles under the definitions of the present invention includebut are not limited to cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, and tobaccocartridges.

The entire label may be between about 30 mm and about 50 mm long, andbetween about 10 mm to about 30 mm wide. A preferred label is about 42mm long and about 20 mm wide. However, depending on the specificrequirements of the container, other dimensions are also possible, forexample, equilateral labels having a length and width of between about15 mm and about 30 mm may be employed.

The printed area of the label may cover between about 30% and about 70%,preferably between about 40% and about 60%, and most preferably about50% of the surface of the entire label. The printed area of a preferredlabel is about 20 mm wide and about 21 mm long. However, depending onthe specific requirements of the container other values are alsopossible, for example, for the above-mentioned equilateral labels, theprinted area of the label may cover up to 90% of the surface of theentire tax sticker or tax label.

Where the label is not equilateral, the printed area is preferablylocated in the longitudinal center of the label. However, it may bedesirable that the printed area is located close to an edge of thelabel.

The surface of the container of the invention underneath unprinted areasof the label is visible through the transparent plastic sheet. Thetransparency of the plastic sheet of the label, therefore,advantageously results in an increased proportion of the total surfacearea of the container of the invention being visible to the consumercompared to known packs of smoking articles having tax labels affixedthereto.

Preferably, all printed matter on the label is located on the top orupper surface of the label, that is the surface of the label that is notin contact with the container. A particular advantage of this embodimentis that there is no risk that colors used to print the label will adhereto the container surface, and so potentially damage the containersurface upon breaking of the label. However, a small amount of printedmatter, such as, for example, eye-marks or other marks helpful duringthe production process of the label, may be located on the bottom orlower surface of the label, that is the surface of the label which is incontact with the container. Preferably at least one surface of the labelis coated with an acrylic coating agent, preferably with an aqueousacrylic dispersion, more preferably with a chlorine-free aqueous acrylicdispersion. Where the container is over wrapped with a transparent film,the coating agent advantageously avoids sealing of the film to the labelduring the over wrapping process.

For easy machining, an eye-mark may be printed underneath the taxinformation or other printed matter applied to the label or on thesurface of the label opposite the surface to which the tax informationor other printed matter is applied. The eye-mark is preferably of acontrast color such as for example black or white, and is preferably ofa machine recognizable rectangular shape, preferably between about 10 mmand about 15 mm wide, and between about 1 mm and about 5 mm long. Aparticularly preferred eye-mark is about 13 mm wide and about 4 mm long.The eye-mark is preferably located in the geometrical center of theprinted area of the label. Since tax labels for packs of smokablearticles are usually produced on a reel containing several hundreds tothousands of meters of plastic sheet, the individual labels are obtainedby cutting the reel into pieces of the required length. The eye-markhelps the cutting tool to determine the exact dimensions, that is theexact length of an individual tax label, by optical inspection and,thus, to place the cuts accordingly. Labels for containers according tothe present invention may also be produced on flat transparent plasticsheets rather than on reels.

The label of the container of the present invention may comprise anytransparent plastic sheet including, but not limited to, polyester,polypropylene and polyethylene. Preferably, the plastic sheet isselected from polypropylene, polyethylene and in particular, biaxiallyoriented polypropylene. The plastic sheet preferably has a thickness ofbetween about 10 μm to about 100 μm, more preferably of between about 20μm to about 60 μm. Preferably, the plastic sheet of the label is coatedon at least one side with an adhesive, self-adhesive and/orheat-sealable agent, and at least one side of the plastic sheet isreceptive to inks, adhesives or tear-tapes. It is particularlypreferred, if a substantially unprinted surface of the label is coatedwith an adhesive, self adhesive and/or heat-sealable agent, to allow thelabel to be adhered to the container, and the other surface of the labelis receptive to inks. In particular, it is preferred if one side of thelabel is coated with a heat-sealable agent and the other side is not.

Where the plastic sheet is coated with an adhesive, self-adhesive and/orheat-sealable agent, preferably the adhesive, self-adhesive and/orheat-sealable agent are/is transparent.

Transparency within the definitions of the present invention means thatthe container surface appears through the unprinted area of the plasticsheet in substantially the same manner as if no plastic sheet waspresent. Thus, substantially no difference exists for the viewer betweenthe area of the container surface that is covered by the transparentpart of the label and the uncovered areas of the container surfacedirectly adjacent to the label. In other words, the coefficient I/I₀with I₀ being the intensity of light in the visible spectrum beforetransmittal through the plastic sheet and I being the intensity of lightafter transmittal through the plastic sheet is as close as possible tothe ideal value of 1. Preferably, the coefficient I/I₀ is between 0.8and 1, more preferably between 0.9 and 1.

Where the container is, for example, a hard pack of cigarettes, thelabel preferably extends from a front face of the container over a topface of the container to a rear face of the container or, alternatively,for a hinge-lid pack from a rear face to a side face of the container atthe same time extending over the contact area of lid and box part on theside face. These two embodiments ensure that opening of the pack isimpossible without breaking the label. Hard packs of cigarettes oftenhave a hinged lid, the opening or lid line extending across the frontface of the pack. Where such hinged lid packs are provided with a taxlabel or sticker, the tax information itself can be placed on the topface of the pack and the tax label needs to cover the opening line ofthe hinged lid on the front face or the side face of the pack. Softpacks of cigarettes are opened on their top face. Accordingly, where thecontainer of the invention is, for example, a soft pack of cigarettesthe label only needs to cover a portion of the top face of the pack. Inthis case, the label may be affixed to at least a portion of the topface of the container itself and/or to, for example, the top face of ametallized paper inner liner in which a bundle of cigarettes held withinthe container is wrapped

The present invention further relates to the use of a label comprising apartially printed, transparent plastic sheet to seal a container ofsmokable articles.

The present invention also relates to a method of sealing a container ofsmokable articles comprising applying a label comprising a partiallyprinted, transparent plastic sheet over at least a portion of a top faceof the container. Preferably, the method comprises applying a labelcoated on one side with a heat-sealable agent and coated on the otherside with an acrylic coating agent to the container. Preferably, theacrylic coated side of the label is printed with tax or otherinformation and the side coated with the heat-sealable agent is placedin contact with the container. This allows for tight adhering of thelabel to the container and at the same time, where the container is overwrapped with a transparent film, avoids sealing of the label to thefilm.

The container according to the invention can be produced either manuallyby placing the subject tax label onto the container and fixing itthereto by, e.g., applying heat, or automatically on, e.g., high-speedcigarette pack makers where the subject labels are cut from theabove-described reels, placed onto the subject containers and fixedthereto by, e.g., applying heat.

1. A container of smokable articles having a label, preferably a taxlabel, applied thereto, the label sealing the container such that theconsumer has to break the label to gain access to the contents of thecontainer, characterized in that the label comprises a partiallyprinted, transparent plastic sheet.
 2. A container according to claim 1wherein the container is a pack of cigarettes.
 3. A container accordingto claim 1 wherein the container is a display carbon comprising aplurality of individual packs of cigarettes.
 4. A container according toclaim 1 wherein substantially all printed matter on the label is locatedon the upper surface of the label.
 5. A container according to claim 1wherein at least one surface of the label is coated with an acryliccoating agent, preferably with an aqueous acrylic dispersion, morepreferably with a chlorine-free aqueous acrylic dispersion.
 6. Acontainer according to claim 1 wherein an eye-mark is printed underneatha printed area on the upper surface of the label or on the lower surfaceof the label opposite a printed area on the upper surface of the label.7. A container according to claim 1 wherein the plastic sheet is madefrom polyolefin material, preferably polypropylene, polyethylene andbiaxially oriented polypropylene.
 8. A container according to claim 1wherein the plastic sheet is coated on at least one side with anadhesive, self-adhesive and/or heat-sealable agent and is receptive onat least one side to inks, adhesives or tear-tapes.
 9. A containeraccording to claim 8, wherein the adhesive self-adhesive and/orheat-sealable agent are/is transparent.
 10. A container according toclaim 1 wherein the label extends over at least a portion of a top faceof the container.
 11. A container according to claim 1 wherein the labelextends from a front face of the container over a top face of thecontainer to a rear face of the container.
 12. Use of a label comprisinga partially printed, transparent plastic sheet to seal a container ofsmokable articles.
 13. A method of sealing a container of smokablearticles comprising applying a label comprising a partially printed,transparent plastic sheet over at least a portion of a top face of thecontainer.